


Rivals in Love

by Fallynleaf



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Minor Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Minor Lance/Shiro (Voltron), Sexuality Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 14:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7938646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallynleaf/pseuds/Fallynleaf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance finds out that Keith has a crush on Shiro, so logically, Lance decides that he's going to win Shiro before Keith can.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rivals in Love

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how on earth I had time to finish this in five days between work and taking too many credits in grad school, but I watched Voltron over the weekend and then couldn't get this idea out of my brain, so here it is.

Like most things that go on to become huge, impactful moments in Lance’s life, this one started with a team bonding moment.

Breakfast, actually. Or more of a late brunch. The early risers (read: overachievers), a.k.a. Shiro and Keith, had already eaten and had started on their daily training exercises, but everybody else on Team Voltron was eating brunch together and talking about the Good Old Days on Earth back when they were pretty much just three guys who couldn’t pass a simulation test together.

Lance made a disparaging remark about Keith, and then Hunk said: “Eh, that’s because the dude’s got it bad for Shiro.”

“Huh?” Lance said, his spoon stopped in midair halfway to his mouth.

“Keith has a crush on Shiro. It’s been obvious since forever,” Pidge said.

“No!” Lance said disbelievingly. “I thought he was just trying to compete with my hero worship of the guy!” He dramatically put down his spoon.

“Are you sure that you don’t also have a crush on Shiro?” Hunk scrutinized him. “Because the line between love and hero-worship is fine. Reeeaal fine.” He narrowed the gap between his forefinger and his thumb.

Lance thought about it. He didn’t think that he had a crush on Shiro. After all, Shiro distinctly lacked the one quality Lance looked for in a romantic partner, that is to say, Shiro was definitely Not A Girl. Lance was confident in that knowledge.

“There’s only one thing I can do,” Lance said. “I’m going to win Shiro’s love before Keith can.”

Pidge and Hunk sighed in unison.

 

* * *

 

A few hours later, Lance approached Shiro. He leaned seductively against the wall. “Hey,” he said.

“What is it, Lance?” Shiro asked.

“What do you say we work on my training? Just the two of us, together? Right in that training room that’s next to the one that Keith is using?”

Shiro looked at him. “I don’t know why you’re suddenly interested in doing extra work, but if you think it’ll help, I’ll train with you.”

“Score!” Lance said, pumping his fist. He coughed, making his voice a little lower, giving it more of a purr. “I mean, thanks, Shiro, for agreeing to do this with me. You won’t regret it.” He winked.

As they walked over to the training room, Keith walked out of the adjacent room.

Lance watched him with a grin. “Man, Shiro, I can’t wait to show you these moves. You won’t believe how my body can move, baby,” he said, loudly.

Keith stopped walking. He stared at the two of them, an unreadable expression on his face. Then his expression darkened, and he glared at Lance.

Lance, who’d been too busy watching Keith’s reaction to watch where he was going, accidentally walked right into Shiro, who’d stopped at the entrance to the room.

“Is everything all right, Lance?” Shiro asked.

And it was Shiro showing genuine concern for Lance that caused Keith to finally storm out of the room. Lance did a mental fist pump in victory.

Then it was just Lance and Shiro, and all of the sudden Lance remembered why he disliked training with Shiro, because Shiro made Lance actually do work, and then feel bad if he didn’t complete it. Winning the game of Shiro’s love was going to be harder than he thought.

 

* * *

 

“I’m so sore,” Lance complained later to Pidge and Hunk, leaning back on the couch. “The only thing I can think of to do with Shiro is train with him, and I’ve been doing nothing else but training for the past week. Do you know how many bogus moves I’ve had to come up with to show him?” Lance groaned.

“Is it even working?” Hunk asked.

“Huh?” Lance asked.

Right on cue, Keith walked into the room. He noticed Lance, and right away, his expression changed into a glare.

“Yeah. It’s working perfectly,” Lance said, grinning as he watched Keith.

“Hey, Lance,” Keith said, his voice short. “C’mere. We need to talk.”

After Keith pretty much dragged Lance out of the room, he turned and said, “I know what you’re doing.”

“What? Little ol’ me? What could I possibly be doing—“

“You’re making fun of me,” Keith interrupted.

Lance’s next words died on his lips. “I—“ he said. “No I’m not. I’m just… trying to get Shiro to go out with me. He’s no Allura, but eh, sometimes you gotta just be content with the next best thing.”

Keith’s glare relaxed a little. He still seemed angry, but now he was also a little surprised. Taken aback by Lance’s confession. “I didn’t know that you…”

“Yeah, well, you don’t know everything, do you?” Lance snapped. He felt unexpectedly hurt by Keith’s words and didn’t know why.

Keith regarded him. “I guess I didn’t,” he said. Then he turned and walked away.

 

* * *

 

After that conversation, Keith let up on the glares and dirty looks. He still payed attention to Lance more than usual, but it was mildly inquisitive attention and not the anger that Lance was really after. It ticked Lance off.

He had to step up his game. Go further than merely _training_ with Shiro. He had to take Shiro’s time away from Keith somehow. Make Shiro choose Lance over Keith.

 

* * *

 

“—Anyways, I’m trying to come up with a way to win Shiro once and for all. Got any ideas?” Lance asked. He stood right outside Pidge’s room. The interior of the room was a mess of robot parts, and cords, and there was a small clear spot in the center of it where Pidge had clearly been working before Lance had knocked on the door.

“Hey, why’d you come to me with this, anyways?” Pidge asked.

“Oh, because you’re a gi—“ Lance started.

Pidge slammed the door in his face.

 

* * *

 

“—And Pidge wasn’t much help, so I thought I’d ask you,” Lance said, standing in Hunk’s kitchen. Hunk had a normal room like the rest of them, but he was really in his element in the kitchen. Which no one else really even used, anyways. Lance had once had to listen to Hunk complain about how no one had cleaned the oven in 10,000 years.

“Well, they always say the best thing to do is follow your heart,” Hunk said, patting his stomach.

“Hunk, that’s your stomach. You’re referring to your stomach,” Lance said.

“Ah!” Hunk said, holding up a finger. “They _also_ say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. So you should get to Shiro through his stomach. Maybe try it when we’re forming Voltron. His stomach is a lot bigger then.”

Lance contemplated the array of food in the kitchen. He thought about the fact that Shiro had been used to prisoner food, and that he regularly ate the green goop without any complaint. He concluded that in the grand scheme of things, there was probably a better way to win over Shiro than food.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Allura, can you help a guy—and by a guy, I mean me, Lance—get a date—“ Lance started, catching up to her as she walked through one of the castle hallways.

“Not interested,” she interrupted him.

“—With Shiro.”

Allura stopped walking. She whirled around, her face shining with relief. “With Shiro?” she repeated. “I—well, yes, I suppose I could help with that.”

“Okay, great! What should I do?” Lance asked.

“What kind of things does Shiro like?” Allura asked. “That’s usually a good place to start.”

“Um,” Lance said. He held up his hand and started counting things off on his fingers. “His lion…” He trailed off and counted empty numbers with the rest of his fingers. “And, um, a strong sense of justice?”

Allura stared at him, holding her smile a little too long.

“Oh, eyeliner!” Lance added. “He likes eyeliner.”

“And…?” Allura prompted.

Lance shrugged, turning up his palms. “That’s all I got.”

“You desire to pursue him romantically, and yet you know so little about him?” Allura asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“I mean, he’s been my hero since forever, but you don’t typically get to know your heroes,” Lance said.

“Hmm…” Allura thought. “Have you considered trying to get to know him and _then_ asking him on a date instead of trying to fly the ship before it’s finished being built?”

“Uh, no,” Lance said flatly. “Why would I waste all of the time doing that? I want a big, flashy gesture that takes the least amount of work for the most payoff.” He grinned. “Hey, I know how we can speed things up! How about you just _tell_ me what kind of things he likes, and then I’ll go do them?”

“That would defeat the purpose,” Allura said.

Lance sighed. “Fine. Thanks for trying, Allura. Gold star for effort. Too bad you were my last resort and I still don’t have a plan.”

Allura seemed more offended at the “you were my last resort” part of the comment than anything else, but she did an admirably good job at keeping her cool about it. Lance supposed that was why she was a princess and he wasn’t.

 

* * *

 

“—And you know what the worst part of it is?” Lance said. “The one person I wish I could talk to about all this—is Shiro himself. And he’s the only person I _can’t_ talk about it with.” He sunk his head into his hands and groaned dramatically.

The mice all nodded in sympathy. One of them gently patted Lance’s leg where they were all perched on his lap.

“I wish I could just say. ‘Oh, Shiro, I was just wondering—do you have any pointers for wooing you?’”

One of the mice let out a loud squeak.

The warning came too late, however, because when Lance glanced up, Shiro was standing right in front of him.

“What is this about wooing me?” Shiro asked.

Lance yelped.

“Oh, uh, Shiro! I, uh, I was just wondering, can I talk to you? It doesn’t have to be right now, but if you’re free and I’m free, then now is a pretty good time.” Lance laughed nervously.

“Is something wrong?” Shiro asked, frowning. He took a seat next to Lance, and the mice scattered to Lance’s other side, chittering to themselves as they watched the situation unfold.

“No,” Lance said. “Well, yes. Maybe?”

Shiro blinked.

Lance took in a breath. He didn’t think he could have this conversation without coming clean at some point, so he might as well get it over with. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve been trying to seduce you,” he said.

Shiro opened his mouth, then closed it. Either he was stunned silent, or he was taking time to find the right words. “How could I take that the wrong way?” he asked, finally.

“I don’t want you to think that it means more to me—“ Lance cleared his throat and restarted the sentence in favor of a less sappy one. “—That it will affect our interactions in the workplace. I mean, I’ve been hero-worshipping you since before we even met, and that hasn’t messed anything up, right?”

“Um, no?” Shiro answered.

“Exactly. And it’s not like any of it was real. I was just… playing a game,” Lance said.

“A game?” Shiro repeated.

“Yeah!” Lance perked up. “A personal challenge! A test of my romantic ability. I mean, not that I _need_ a test or anything—“

“Lance, it’s okay,” Shiro interrupted. “Don’t worry about it. Just… don’t play games like that in the future. People could get hurt,” he said, his voice serious.

“I won’t,” Lance promised.

“Good,” Shiro nodded. “Is there anything else you wanted?” he asked.

“No, that’s it,” Lance said. But as Shiro started to get up, Lance added, “Wait, there is one more thing.”

Shiro looked at him expectantly.

“Can I have a hug? A completely platonic, unconditional hug between two guys who are sometimes part of one guy?” Lance asked. He held out his arms.

Shiro hugged him, and Lance tried not to hold on too tight or bury his face in Shiro’s shoulder and cry in relief. It felt good to have Shiro back as just a mentor-type person and a fellow teammate.

As they parted, Lance almost didn’t notice Keith standing in a hallway across the room, quietly staring at them.

Lance met Keith’s gaze, and for the first time since all of this had started, he found that he couldn’t care less about their rivalry.

 

* * *

 

That moment passed, though. But not until Keith and Lance had both walked away, and Lance was left to his own devices, which currently meant preparing to take a nap. Not too long into his nap, he heard footsteps, so he opened his eyes and looked up.

“Hey, Coran,” Lance said.

“Lance! I heard you were trying to woo Shiro!”

“Wow, word travels fast. But yeah, I was.” Lance tucked his arm under his head.

“And now…?” Coran questioned.

“Not so much,” Lance admitted. He sat up.

“Ah, fallen out of love so quickly?” Coran asked, wistful.

“Never was in it,” Lance said. “Don’t think I was, at least.”

“Then why…?”

“Because Keith is! We’re rivals in romance just as we are in everything else!” Lance said, the familiar feeling of annoyance coming back just as strong as ever.

“That doesn’t sound like a very good reason—“

“But Keith doesn’t even care that we’re rivals,” Lance continued. “He barely notices me unless I directly challenge him.” He took a breath. “All I want is for him to _pay attention to me_!” He nearly shouted the last bit, and when he was done, he was breathing hard and loud in the silence.

When Coran spoke, his voice was even and bemused. “If what you’re really interested in is Keith’s reaction, then why don’t you just woo Keith?”

Lance opened his mouth. He didn’t close it for at least a minute. Suddenly, a lot of things started to make sense to him, and Lance wasn’t sure what to think about them.

 

* * *

 

Some time and an existential crisis later, Lance stood outside Keith’s door, waiting impatiently.

Finally, the door opened. Keith stared at him for a long moment. “Lance…?” he asked.

“These are for you.” Lance held the bouquet out. “If you don’t take them, I’m going to throw them at your face like darts. I’m good at darts. Back in the day they called me—“

“What do you want?” Keith sighed. He took the flowers.

“I’ve realized I’ve been going about this the wrong way,” Lance said.

“Going about _what_ the wrong way?”

“Everything. You. Shiro. Us. I thought I was interested in Shiro because _you_ were interested in Shiro, and I’m your rival in romantic love just as I am in all—“

“I’m not into Shiro,” Keith interrupted bluntly. “At least, not anymore.”

“You’re not?! But—“ Lance sputtered.

“Things change. _Feelings_ change. You grow up. Actually get to know the guy you have a crush on. Realize that you like him, yeah, but not in _that_ way,” Keith said, ducking his head a little, leaning into the shadows of his room.

“Oh, well, I’ve kind of had the opposite thing happen,” Lance said.

“You got to know Shiro and realized that you like him?” Keith said.

“No, not Shiro. Who cares about Shiro? I’m talking about _you_! I like _you_!” Lance said. “I mean, I hate you, but I like you, you know?”

“What?” Keith’s eyes slid to the flowers, then back at Lance. “ _What?_ ” he repeated.

“Okay, well, you see, when I thought I hated you, I really actually liked you, uh, ‘that way,’ only I wasn’t ready to admit it myself yet, so I just tried to get your attention by competing with you all the time. Not an easy task. Getting your attention, I mean. Not competing with you; _that’s_ easy, I’ve got that one in the bag—“

“Stop talking,” Keith interrupted him.

“What?” Lance said.

“It’s just… it’s a lot to process, okay?”

“Yeah, well, I’ve already processed it, so process faster!”

“I said, shut up!” Keith growled. And then he lunged forward and kissed Lance.

It felt… good. Better than fighting, that was for sure. Keith’s kiss was somehow insistent and impatient and nervous all at once, and Lance matched him with heart-fluttering passion and cool strength and—

Keith pulled away. “Huh. I expected that to help,” he said.

“It didn’t?!” Lance said. “Let’s try it again.”

He leaned in, and Keith met him halfway. And _oh_ , Lance was really starting to like kissing. He’d wanted to try it before, of course, but for some reason, none of the girls he’d been after had returned the feeling. Maybe he shouldn’t have written off the male half of the dating pool after all.

Somewhat reluctantly, they separated. Keith, especially, seemed reluctant. Like he would rather keep kissing Lance and put off the inevitable conversation they would have to have about this.

“So I take it you’re more used to the whole… gay feelings thing,” Lance said.

Keith wore a brittle smile. “Sure. I guess you could put it that way,” he said. “I’ve only ever had feelings for other guys, so…”

“Well, besides the one exception, I’ve only had feelings for girls,” Lance said. “—That I’m aware of,” he added.

“Which, clearly, you’re not,” Keith said.

“Hey! I’ve really grown as a person today!” Lance protested. “I’m—“

He cut off with a muffled sound when Keith kissed him again. Immediately, Lance got distracted and started to kiss back, and then he realized what Keith had done and gently pushed him away, holding him back at arm’s length.

“Quit trying to shut me up!” Lance said.

Keith shrugged. “It’s the most effective method I’ve found so far,” he said. But he was blushing, and he couldn’t quite hide the little smile he was wearing.

Lance relaxed his arms, and his hands slid down to settle at Keith’s hips. “Okay,” he breathed. “But we’re going to have to talk about this at some point.” But Keith felt warm to the touch, and Lance kind of got lost in staring at him for a moment, just taking everything in.

“Quit it,” Keith muttered. He blushed deeper.

Lance smirked. Now _he_ had the upper hand. “You _do_ like me!” he said, triumphant.

“Doesn’t mean I’m proud of myself for it,” Keith said.

“Yeah, well, _I’m_ proud of you for it,” Lance said.

Keith squirmed, unable to meet Lance’s eyes. For someone who tried to put off a lone wolf persona, he seemed to really crave validation. Lance remembered, then, that Keith had been the dropout with all the conspiracy theories. It must’ve been pretty lonely.

Lance leaned in, and Keith’s eyes fluttered closed, and Lance stopped before their lips touched, feeling the breaths pass between them.

Then there was a hiss of sound, and the door opened.

“Keith, I tried contacting you—“ Shiro cut off abruptly.

Lance and Keith scrambled away from each other to opposite sides of the room. They pointedly avoided looking at each other.

“Lance!” Shiro said in a warning tone.

“Wait, it’s not like that, Shiro!” Lance hurriedly explained. “I swear I’m not playing a game. This time it’s real!”

Shiro looked at him, his expression serious. Then he looked at Keith, and then back at Lance. He wore a cryptic smile. “Alright,” he said. He nodded, once, with finality. Then he turned to leave. “I expect to see both of you in ten minutes for training,” he said.

“Yes, Shiro!” Keith said.

The door closed, and it was just the two of them again.

For a minute, silence.

Then Lance said: “How much of that time do you think we could realistically spend making out?”

Just as Keith was saying: “What did you mean by ‘this time it’s real?’”

And so Lance spent nine minutes impatiently explaining the whole thing, and then he spent one minute kissing Keith, at which point the door opened again, and then Lance had some things to explain to Pidge and Hunk. All in all, they accomplished very little training that day. They did, however, accomplish a great deal of team bonding.


End file.
